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How to fix common CCleaner bugs on Windows 10

CCleaner is one of the most popular tools for cleaning and optimizing your Windows 10 computer. Inevitably, a lot of dead weight accumulates on your computer: temporary files, broken shortcuts, corrupt files, and other problems.

In this article, we'll list the most common CCleaner issues you may encounter on your Windows 10 computer, as well as the corresponding workarounds to help you get the tool up and running again.

CCleaner is not too hard to operate, but if you want more information about it, visit our CCleaner section for tips and fixes.

If you've got a software with an issue, we probably already have the solution in our PC Software Hub.

CCleaner is one of the most popular tools for cleaning and optimizing your Windows 10 computer. Inevitably, a lot of dead weight accumulates on your computer: temporary files, broken shortcuts, corrupt files, and other problems.

Thus, many users rely on CCleaner to keep their system clean and prevent technical issues.

But what if CCleaner itself causes issues or doesn’t function properly? Unfortunately, quite a large number of Windows 10 users running CCleaner have already encountered this scenario and need a solution to solve these problems.

In this article, we’ll list the most common CCleaner issues you may encounter on your Windows 10 computer, as well as the corresponding workarounds to help you get the tool up and running again.

Common CCleaner issues in Windows 10

CCleaner didn’t clean all the files

Most likely, this error occurs when users don’t select the files and folders they want to clean, and the tool simply doesn’t check those areas. 1. In CCleaner, click the Cleaner icon on the left. 2. Under the Windows tab, in the Advanced section, select the Custom Files and Folders checkbox and tell CCleaner what files you want it to clean.

ZoneAlarm firewall activates when running CCleaner

If you have ZoneAlarm installed on your computer, most likely you’ll encounter this situation when you run CCleaner for the first time or when CCleaner checks for updates. You can simply ignore the warning, and click Allow to let CCleaner continue.

This tool doesn’t contain any spyware or adware, the alert displayed by ZoneAlarm is a false positive one.

CCleaner can’t delete Google Chrome history

Chrome is synced to your Google account. This means that you can’t clean your browsing information unless you disable syncing.

1. Go to Settings> Sign in> click Disconnect your Google account.

2. Go to Settings > Show advanced settings (scroll down to the bottom of the page)>go to System> Uncheck Continue running background apps when Google Chrome is closed.

CCleaner gets stuck when analyzing Microsoft Edge

This is a known issue for CCleaner 5.22, the latest version of the tool. CCleaner is very slow when analyzing Edge files and can sometimes freeze. Be patient, after a few minutes the scanning will advance. If this becomes too annoying, you can download a previous version of the tool.

CCleaner deletes Vivaldi speed dial thumbnails

You can protect the location where the speed dial thumbnails are saved by following the steps listed below:

Go to Options > Exclude > Add

Go to User/Default/Top Sites > Click OK.

CCleaner closes shortly after clicking on Run Cleaner

Users who reported this error confirmed that the option Close program after cleaning was unchecked. Most of them also confirmed they used Kaspersky Internet Security, and it appears the security software doesn’t allow them to install the upgraded version of CCleaner under CCleaner‘s previous credentials.

To solve this issue, add CCleaner to the Allowed applications list and everything should properly work.

We hope this quick CCleaner issues roundup is useful for you. As a quick reminder, CCleaner recently added support for the Windows 10 Anniversary Update, which should reduce the number of issues users encounter.

In case you encounter other CCleaner problems that haven’t been covered in this article, you can use Piriform’s forum to ask for help.

FAQ: Read more about CCleaner

Why does CCleaner not work on Windows 10?

CCleaner works perfectly on Windows 10 but you probably have an older version. CCleaner v5.45 and below are not compatible with Windows 10 anymore so you should update Cleaner to its latest version.

What’s wrong with CCleaner?

Nowadays, CCleaner is fine. You see a lot of questions like this because CCleaner has been hacked at the end of 2017. So no, it’s nothing wrong with it now.

How do I get rid of CCleaner popups?

Click the Options icon from the left pane and then switch to the Smart cleaning tab. Now deselect Tell me when there are junk files to clean checkbox. Next, deselect Enable Smart Cleaning option. Click the Yes button when you get the message to disable the Smart Cleaning.

Editor’s Note: This post was originally published in September 2018 and has been since revamped and updated in May 2020 for freshness, accuracy, and comprehensiveness.